Lost Things Are Inevitably Found
by Golden Bearded Dragon
Summary: Fire Lord Zuko finds some old files in the palace that were stolen from the Air temples, and he learns about the lost Viking Tribes, and that dragons may not be as lost as everyone thought. Meanwhile; Grand Chief Hiccup tries not to drown in paperwork.
1. Caring for a land

_**Dang, I really should have worked on my other stories... Oh well! I thought this up one day when I started to wonder about all the different kinds of dragons, and I thought about the Chinese dragon, which is super cool looking. So I made this, enjoy!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own HTTYD or A:tLA, and I make no money from these.**_

 _ **This is set four years after the the last episode of Avatar: the Last Airbender, and two years after HTTYD2.**_

* * *

There once was a series of islands and various, small countries in the far north that used to trade with the Air Nomads, they were especially close allies with a certain small island named Berk. The airbending people were the only ones that were able to maneuver through the harsh winds that surrounded the Viking tribes, and that was only remotely possible through their air bison. Any ship that tried to enter that corner of the sea would find themselves sunk by vicious sea-serpents, or attacked by the fire-breathing dragons that were also indigenous to that region.

These dragons were not the long-bodied and whiskered reptiles the rest of the world knew of, no, these were more like lizards with wings. Extremely dangerous, fire-breathing, boiling water spitting, plasma-blasting, terrifying, demented lizards with wings. And the Vikings were in an eternal war with the creatures due to stubbornness issues. The Nomads didn't approve of all this violence, so after spending years and years trying to unsuccessfully get the idea of peace into the burly islanders thick skulls, they decided to cut ties with their once allies.

So the airbenders regretfully put an end to their trade with all of the Viking Tribes, and a few decades later, the Air Nomads were nothing but a legend told in bedtime stories to the forgotten islands in the far north. And much the same happened with anyone that lived outside of the islands.

Until the Fire Nation stole all the historical documents when they wiped out the airbenders.

Fortunately for the Vikings, the Air Nomads were very thorough in their writings, so there was a lot of paperwork to get through before Fire Lord Azulon would have found the maps to the island tribes. And later on, Ozai was much too busy taking over the world and therefore could not spare the time to check over century old scrolls. Fire Lord Zuko, on the other hand, was more than happy to look through the antique files. Boy, was he surprised by what he found.

There were possibly more dragons than the two that his uncle had helped hide, but he still wasn't so sure if this was entirely a good thing. And the papers were outdated so Zuko didn't know for sure if these islands still existed or not, or even if the natives were still fighting against the dragons. The young Fire Lord had a feeling that Aang would try his best to put an end to the violence by marching over there and talking about peace and love and... whatever else the eccentric Avatar did to people to change their minds.

But that may be just what Zuko needed to solve this, because these islanders should be reintroduced to the rest of the world. Along with several other small countries in that same undisturbed corner of the ocean. So he called his tactical genius of a wife, Mai, into his study to formulate the best way to inform the little group of world-savers about this new knowledge he had just procured.

His wife of four years walked gracefully into the room despite her extended belly. Zuko smiled at her, "Mai, it's nice to see you." She rolled her eyes at her husband.

"I saw you just this morning, Zuko, so don't act like that, you handsome idiot." He merely grinned at the drawled words. The Fire Lord loved his wife, and knowing that in a few short months they'd be parents caused him to love her even more. He just started to drift off while thinking about his future child when Mai waved a delicate hand in front of his face. "Earth to Zuko, hello? You seem a bit distracted, did something interesting finally happen?" She asked in a bored tone, yawning slightly. It was getting late, and Mai had started to feel tired.

"Yes, I mean maybe, or possibly. Yeah… well there might be a whole island continent that contains dragons. That seems interesting, right?" His wife just stared at him. Zuko sighed. "The only problem is that we can't just go check out of the blue if these places exist or not; people are still very paranoid when it comes to the Fire Nation. We'll need to do it diplomatically. " He said seriously, and and his wife raised a well groomed brow.

"You mean you're going to bring in the Avatar to deal with this." She deadpanned.

"...How'd you know?"

"Who else would it be?" Mai drawled.

Zuko coughed, "yeah, I see your point. _But_ a Fire Nation official will need to oversee the escapade; since it'd be over our water." He watched, warily, as her eyes narrowed.

"You _better_ not be planning to go personally." He opened his mouth to reply, but she kept going. "I know you feel responsible to do every little thing thing that concerns your country, and that's good. But you're going to work yourself into the ground If you carry on like that. Plus, think of our _child,_ you can't just leave before he's born, what if you are gone for a while and miss our baby's birth. What if you get caught and…" His wife couldn't finish the sentence before she burst into tears, which sent Zuko into a panic; he didn't even notice how she had referred to their baby as a boy despite saying she had always wanted a girl.

He wrapped his arms around Mai, and hummed softly as he held her. Zuko was sure this outburst was because of all the hormones involved in the pregnancy, he had heard something similar when Katara had come to the palace a few months ago to congratulate them. "Don't worry, the preparations will take several weeks at the least, and from past experience, I have found I don't die easily." He smiled wryly at the beautiful woman he was extremely lucky to call his wife.

"I know, I know," she sniffled, her tears had soaked into his shirt. "But you have awful luck, and life would be very boring without you." Mai had stopped crying by now, and wiped away the remaining moisture around her eyes with her long sleeves. Zuko turned her head so he could look her in the eyes, he smiled gently at her for a moment.

"I don't think you're giving the Avatar very much credit, because I know he'll make sure that nothing happens to any of his friends on this little adventure." Mai sighed and leaned back against him, and he ran his hand absently over her growing stomach. "So, what do you say? Want to help me plan something interesting, and it also has the added bonus of bossing me around for a while." His wife snorted, and had most likely rolled her eyes, but she wasn't facing him so he couldn't tell for sure.

"I get to boss you around anytime I want, you pansy." Mai sighed as Zuko ran his fingers through her hair, "of course I'll help you, we're married, so we have to do things like this together." She reached back and jabbed her fingers into his forehead, ignoring his yelp, she continued, "but I will _not_ be happy if you end up getting your idiot self killed. So don't even think about dying, or I'll kill you."

"That sounds acceptable." He wisely agreed. Zuko sat his chin on top of Mai's head as she went on about all the things he would need for his journey.

* * *

One week later the Gaang was assembled in the Fire Nation Palace. Katara was chatting with Mai about the Fire Lady's due date. Sokka and Suki discussed plans for their upcoming wedding, Toph was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, and Aang was trying to get Zuko to hurry up and tell them why he brought them all together. After the fifth time deflecting the airbending teenager's questions, the scarred man sighed.

"Alright, Aang." Zuko stood up and got everyone's attention. "I'm sure you're all wondering what horrible thing must have happened to cause me to invite you all here."

"And here I had thought you missed our delightful company." Sokka muttered sarcastically, and the Fire Lord's eye twitched.

"As I was saying, I recently found some documents that could possibly pertain to the location to more than one unknown civilization. I need your help to find out if the files I had found contain any truth to them. This will not be an easy task." Zuko stopped his explanation to gauge the reactions of the listeners. Sokka's mind was in overdrive, Katara had been nodding her head as he spoke; Suki and Toph were grinning in excitement, and Aang just looked confused.

"Um… what?" The tattooed teen asked; scratching his head.

"What Sparky means is that we're going off on a glorious adventure, right Sparky?" Toph cut in, and she pointed at Zuko for emphasis. Said man sighed, and ran a hand down his face; sometimes his friends were too much for him.

"Yes… we are going on an adventure, of sorts." Zuko replied slowly, trying not to twitch at Toph's victorious smirk. "There are also two things you should know about this; one, is that they speak a different language, and two, these islands contain dragons." One… two… the Fire Lord counted in his head, and three…

" _Wait, what?!"_

"I thought the dragons were extinct!"

"Sounds like fun."

Aang, Sokka, and Toph exclaimed respectively. _Right on schedule,_ Zuko thought to himself. The rest of the group waited patiently for the man to either continue the discussion, or to admit to pulling some kind of prank. But the latter was unlikely, because anyone who actually knew Zuko could tell he was a pretty serious guy. He decided against informing Sokka about what happened during the trip he and Aang took to help find their inner fire, Zuko had no wish to be hunted down by those people. Mai waved her hand to urge her husband to keep going, and he complied.

"Yes, there are more dragons. These are a different species than the ones we commonly hear about, but they are still the fire-breathing reptiles we associate with the word dragon. The journey over there will be the hard part, the sea alone is filled with hazardous animals that could tear apart any ships that get close." Even the steel Fire Nation ones would not stand a chance alone.

"What about Appa? We could just fly there on him." Suggested the airbender with a shrug, but Zuko immediately shook his head.

"As much as the bison would be useful, there'd be too much travel over water, with next to no land to stop and rest. Plus there's dragons that would not hesitate to attack a large mammal like Appa as prey."

"So how do you suppose we get there? Teleportation?" Toph snorted.

"We're going to use a ship." The young Fire Lord said simply.

Sokka raised an eyebrow in thought, "so you're implying that by having a waterbender on board, we'd have a chance at defending ourselves from whatever scary things inhabit those waters."

"Exactly, and we can bring Appa as well now that we'll have a place he could land. He would make great back up if we run into serious trouble. Now, any ideas about the language barrier? There were some textbooks on Norse in the files, but I'm not sure who should be the translators on this mission." Zuko asked his team, this was something he'd need to work on before they left on their voyage, or it could be very troublesome.

"I think we should all learn a little of the language, at least. You can never be too careful." Suki answered, her head rested on her hand. Sokka nodded in agreement with his fiancé.

"That sounds good, but we still have a lot of preparation to make before we depart. So let's get started." The Fire Lord smiled as they all argued over who got to do which jobs. He shared a look with his wife, and he promised himself that he would do his best to make the world a more welcoming place for his new child.

* * *

On the island of Berk, the young Chief looked at the blue, cloudless sky, and he thought about his life so far. In the past two years he's lost his father, but gained his mother. Amidst the repairs being done on Berk after the attack, he found out that his village was not the only island that was damaged because of Drago Bludvist's thirst for power. The other Viking Tribes that survived in these parts had been attacked as well. Hiccup had set out to free them from the deceased mad man's soldiers that kept them in line.

With the help of Berk's dragons, he succeeded. But that accomplishment had unseen consequences. After saving the lives of the Viking's from the other villages, he had been made some sort of unofficial Grand Chief. And since he had gained the ultimate respect of the other islands, they often dumped their workload onto his shoulders. Not that this situation wasn't a wonderful advantage in trade alone, it was just that the sheer _amount_ of paperwork Hiccup had to do daily that made him rethink saving the other clans.

Which was why he was hiding in the clearing he had learned dragon taming from Toothless in. Very peaceful, and no Vikings bothering him with every little problem. Hiccup sighed and closed his eyes in contentment, this was what he needed to clear his head. Just then a thick tail smacked into him, and he opened his eyes to spot his first friend. "Hey bud, did you miss me?" Toothless stuffed his head into Hiccup's side and chuffed, making the man laugh. "Okay, okay, I'll get up and fly with you!" He was still chuckling as he stood up, the Chief swayed a bit before steadying himself on the Night Fury. "Alright, let's go!"

Hiccup then hooked his metal leg into the harness, and he and Toothless grinned at each other before they abruptly took off into the air. Rapidly, they soared into the clouds, going so high the air felt thin. When the human and dragon deemed they had gone high enough, Toothless slowed down and glided leisurely. Hiccup sighed, nothing made him feel more free than the wind at his fingertips. Sometimes he wondered if this was where he really belonged; nothing but his dragon and the clouds. Not tied down by any tedious position, and no paperwork whatsoever.

But then he'd remember Astrid, and how his father had sacrificed his life for his son. And he wanted to make them proud, he wanted to make his mother proud, and he wanted to show the Viking Tribes that he was worthy of their respect. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III decided that he would be remembered as the best Grand Chief in Viking history.

After a several more minutes of enjoying the high breeze he turned Toothless around to head back home. As Berk came into view, Hiccup spared one last glance to the skies, and couldn't help but wonder what else was out there. Then he shook his head, it wasn't like he would ever find out, Chief Hiccup was staying right where he was. No matter what.

The Night Fury landed gracefully on the street in front of his house, just in time to spot his fuming girlfriend. His girlfriend who was currently holding an ax in a very tight grip. Hiccup and Toothless tried to back away to preserve their lives, but the homicidal woman turned her twitching gaze upon them.

"Where _were_ you? I was just looking for you, and you went _flying_?" The blond hissed as she noticed his wind-whipped hair. "Do you even realize how much paperwork you have on your desk? Let me give you a guess, it's in the triple digits. You might want to get on that, oh, and the Bog Burglar clan wants you to mediate some argument about stolen soup or something." She calmed slightly after she watched him collapse onto the ground in a defeated lump. "Some tips to getting your work done would include not trying to suffocate yourself by smothering your face in a dirty road." Astrid said with a smirk, and she crossed her arms over her chest as she continued staring at his limp form on the ground.

"Bu' iss sho harrd. I can' do thish anymor'." Hiccup muttered into the dirt. At his girlfriend's exasperated sigh he turned his head to the side, but still wouldn't get up, despite Toothless' forceful nudges. "I could get it done a lot faster with your help, oh great and powerful maiden of beauty and fearlessness." He grinned up at Astrid, who shook her head tiredly at the pathetic, dirt covered man.

"Fine. But only this once, and I'm not going _anywhere_ near the soup conflict; Bog Burglars are infamous pick pockets." The warrior woman warned him, but they both knew she would help him again if he needed it. Hiccup jumped up, suddenly full of energy. "You dork," she laughed out as he led her into his living room by the arm, before he bowed dramatically and kissed her hand.

"Welcome to my humble abode, fair lady." Hiccup said with a loving smile, and he led her to his overflowing desk. "Aw, man, this just depresses me." The papers were taking over the small, but sturdy wooden table with a vengeance. And there wasn't even enough space for him to bang his head in despair. Pity. Hiccup sighed heavily as he got to work, Astrid helped him by sorting the papers by how urgent they were and what clan had sent them.

As he signed and stamped each finished document, his mind drifted off to what lands and people the rest of the world held. "Hey Astrid, what do think could be out there?"

The blond beside him shrugged and continued her sorting. "Who knows, I only hope that whatever else is out there is something we can take."

"But what if there are whole different cultures, with new ways of life, and what if we met some of them? Some of the few old documented texts that didn't get destroyed over the years describe people who can control the very elements! Wouldn't that be amazing?" The man said energetically, and paused his scribbling in thought. Astrid smacked him on the back of his head.

"Those are just bedtime stories to put kids to sleep at night, they're not _real._ So you should get back to work before that stack falls over and crushes you." She smacked him again when he rolled his eyes at her; nevertheless, he went back to signing.

But Hiccup still thought about distant lands, filled with adventure and drama. And he wondered what it would be like to actually meet someone from the old legends. Then he shook his head slightly, like that'd ever happen. Berk is his home, and the Viking Tribes was where he would always belong.


	2. Many Ways to Create Ice

I ain't own nothin'! Except for my imagination and original characters. Yohann is from Riders of Berk. Camicazi is from the HTTYD books.

This is self-betaed, so any and all grammar mistakes are mine. _**MUHAHAHAHA.**_

* * *

 _It was you who split open the sea by your power;_

 _you broke the heads of the monster in the waters._

 _Psalm 74:13_

* * *

"Off with his head! He should be executed for this heinous crime!" A large woman yelled in fury, nostrils flared. This same event had happened multiple times over the last few months.

The young man behind the desk sighed, apparently this was his life now. "I'm sorry, but stealing soup _still_ isn't a capital offense. How about he pays you back the soup's worth in money, and apologizes for stealing it, does that seem fair to you?" Hiccup suggested calmly, making sure to keep his eyes on the frightening Bog Burglar.

She seemed to ponder his proposition over for a while, then nodded her head in agreement. The Chief sighed in relief, glad that this was just one of those times that a Viking didn't think something over, and had reacted brashly.

One thing he was thankful for that came with his new position, was that people usually came to him before they brained each other with an ax. And that has helped to keep the Viking Tribe's fatality rate down. Though sometimes they brought the fight _into_ his house, and at those times he was less than amused.

Luckily, his mother, Valka, was able to help him out with his abundance in tribe members; without her second opinion and wisdom he would probably have had an anxiety attack by now. Or jumped off a cliff. And he'd rather not do something that drastic, so he was very grateful for his mom and girlfriend. He knew that without those two he'd never get anything done.

"Alright, next!" The Chief called out, and he signed a few more papers as the next person came crashing in. When he looked up he saw a disgruntled Snotlout holding a charred jacket in his hand.

Hiccup recognized it as the new fur coat his distant cousin had bought from the Berserker clan. Snotlout had paid near a fortune to buy it, and it had been made with extremely soft alpaca wool. "Something wrong?" Hiccup asked as if he couldn't see the ruined garment. Snotlout shook the coat in front of himself.

"Do you know what your stupid lizard did?! I had to clean out like, twenty dragon stables to earn enough for this!" The man fumed. The Chief just raised an amused brow.

"You mean the stables you cleaned because you were on probation? And next time you run in here blaming Toothless for something, make sure that you have evidence." Hiccup smirked.

"It was _not_ my fault that that dock suddenly exploded! And I did bring evidence, see this?" He held up the coat again while the man behind the desk sighed in exasperation.

"If you had looked closer, you would have noticed that the fire used on that was not from a Night Fury. Night Fury's mostly have explosive blasts, and that's only lightly charred."

"Then what dragon set my coat on fire?" Snotlout said, his eyes scrunched up in confusion.

"Probably a Monstrous Nightmare, from the ash pattern. " Hiccup responded offhandedly; already back to working on his paperwork. It was getting dark outside, and he wanted to get everything finished so he didn't have to use candlelight again. His eyes were already overworked enough as it was, without him straining to see over the dim lighting of wax candles.

"No, Hookfang, why?!" Snotlout cried out in dismay. The door to the office was slammed closed as his cousin ran out with a yell of betrayal. Hiccup rolled his eyes at the dramatic display.

"Good riddance. Now I can finally work in peace." He had barely even spoken the words before Valka walked into his living room with a small smile. Hiccup hid a grimace as she stopped in front of his desk; he knew he wasn't going to enjoy what happened next. "Hi, mom. What are you here for?"

There was no need to ask, they both knew what she came to speak about. Valka gripped his arm as she sat in a chair that was across from the desk.

"It's the anniversary." She said simply; yet her face said everything. Two years ago on this day, his father was killed. His parents had just met again after twenty years and then his father, Stoick, died later that very same day. Even merely thinking about it made Hiccup feel guilty; if only he had done more…

"His death was not your fault. I want you to know that. He chose to save you, and he chose well. You are a great Chief, and an even better man. He would be proud to see you today." He rubbed his sleeve across his eyes to wipe away the few tears that were caused by his mother's words.

"Thank you. And I'm sorry." Hiccup managed to get out even though talking suddenly got harder to do.

"What do you have to apologize for? I'm the one who failed you both, when I left all those years ago..." The middle-aged woman's expression made the young Chief's heart throb painfully. He clenched his fist under the table.

"Don't say that! And you're back now, so let's make the best of the future, and try not to dwell on past mistakes." Valka was caught off guard by Hiccup's exclamation, and she was even more startled when he stood up and hugged her in his slightly shaking arms. "We're family, and we need to stay together."

She smiled at her son, and replied softly, "don't worry, I'm not going to leave you again." Valka rubbed his back as he let out the long overdue sobs.

He may be the Chief, but he's still human, and he's gone far too long holding everything in. And nothing could be held back forever.

She knew he'd be back to his normal, easily excited self the next day. But for now he was her baby, and she'd take care of him for as long as he needed. She would always be proud of her extremely bright son, he was a miracle to her, after all.

* * *

Fire Lord Zuko was hyperventilating. This situation was not something he could have ever prepared for, and so he was unsure of what he could and should do. He paced in the hall, trying unsuccessfully to distract himself from the feeling of uselessness that gripped at his mind.

Mai was having the baby.

He was disturbed from his despair by Sokka, who gripped his shoulder. "Hey, she's going to be fine, Katara's one of the best healers in the world. Your wife and child are in good hands."

Zuko calmed down a little, but his heart was still beating way too fast. He suddenly realized he wasn't ready for this. The only decent father figure he had was his uncle, and he knew that he would never be as extraordinary as Iroh. But he definitely didn't want to end up like his own father.

"But what if he doesn't like me, what if he hates me so much that he leaves. What if I become… Just what kind of father do you think I would be, Sokka?" The Fire Lord looked down with a pained expression. He really didn't want to let his own child down. That would be worse than anything he had ever experienced, even the time he was exiled.

"Ow!" The Water Tribesman punched the other man in the shoulder when he saw Zuko's depressed expression. "Hey! What was that for?!" The scarred man shouted, rubbing his arm with a glare pointed at the boomerang wielding warrior.

"You're acting too angsty, and you're about to become a _father_ , so stop acting like an idiot and think about your future; not your past, okey-dokey?" Sokka glared at Zuko until the scarred man nodded reluctantly in agreement. He just had been too stressed lately, what with the near completion of the preparations for the upcoming trip to the Viking Tribes and all.

And he _still_ had to tell Aang about how all the information he had on the islands came from the Air temples. That was not a conversation he was looking forward to. Ah well, he'd have plenty of time for that on the trip over. According to his charts, it will take about nine days; a week and a half, by ship to reach their target, and hopefully more dragons.

He felt responsible for his Nation's actions that nearly caused dragons to become extinct. So if there really were more left, then he would do his best to help protect them. Dragon's were the first firebenders after all, and therefore a part of his country's history.

Just as his panic-caused adrenaline rush had cleared, Katara stepped out of the room with a smile. This was it, he was a father and no matter what, he'd be there for his child. He watched, as the last southern waterbender grinned at him.

"Go in and see your wife, Sparky."

He didn't need to be told twice; Zuko rushed inside and as he approached the bed, he spotted his exhausted wife smiling softly while stroking a small bundle lying beside her on the sheets. He stopped a few feet away, not sure what he should do next.

"Come over here, and see your daughter." She chuckled tiredly at his dumbfounded look. Zuko shook his head and knelt on the ground beside the bed. He gazed at his child, his beautiful baby girl. His _daughter_.

The tiny infant opened her eyes, and Zuko saw gold; the very same color as his own. There was a very good chance that she would be a firebender, and a strong one at that; her eyes were a deep, burnt yellow, like a young fire. "What should her name be? You should choose, but pick something good." Mai continued after giving father and daughter time to meet.

He looked at his daughter's face, she looked a lot like her mother. And he knew that she would be absolutely stunning when she grew older. But she would stay his little princess forever. Names have meanings, so Zuko smiled as he thought of the perfect name for his firstborn. "Mei-Lien." He answered quietly, running two fingers down the child's head.

"Beautiful lotus? I think it fits her perfectly." Mai yawned, and moved her arm over to join hands with her husband; their daughter asleep between them. "When are you planning on leaving?" Zuko sighed, he didn't want to leave, but he knew he had to do this. He had to know if the symbol of the Fire Nation was still thriving out there somewhere.

"Sometime next week, and I still have to tell Aang about where the files were from. There's still so much to do, but I know this is right. Something's telling me to go, but I'll be sure to be as careful as possible so I can make it home in one piece, okay?" He squeezed her hand and looked into Mai's eyes. "I promise I'll do my best to keep everyone safe." His wife blew the hair out of her face with a sigh.

"Whatever, just let me sleep." Zuko's lips twitched at the lazy response from the love of his life. He went back to looking at his baby girl, and realized just how squishy she looked when she slept. Little Mei-Mei already had him twisted around her little finger. Not that he saw anything wrong with that.

The rest of the Gaang walked into the room, and the teen aged Avatar fired a million questions at Zuko about the baby wrapped in a pink blanket; he groaned, Aang could be so frustrating when he was riled up. "Be quiet, Mai's sleeping." This only made the airbender attempt to whisper, which might have been worse than his usual loudness.

"What's her name? Did she smile at you? Is she asleep, can I hold her, does this mean I'm an uncle now? And does that mean-"

"Aang, _shut up._ " Zuko rubbed his face and stared tiredly at the crestfallen Aang. His mood was not helped by Toph's laughter either. Why are his friends all a bunch of weirdos?

"My daughter's name is Mei-Lien, and she didn't smile because she was just born today; of course she's asleep, she went through a very tiring experience. And no, you are not holding her because you'll wake her up; I don't care if you want to be her honorary uncle or not."

"So I can be her uncle too? And can Suki be her aunt, because if I'm her uncle then my wife has to be her aunt; otherwise it'd be pretty weird." Sokka grinned and smacked Zuko on the shoulder; before backing away slightly at the scarred man's glare.

"I wanna be an aunt too! I can show her how to beat up all the boys that try to date her, and be the best role model ever." Toph smiled innocently at Zuko.

"You'd just show her how to sneak out of her house." Katara deadpanned. Toph smirked.

"So, what's up guys? Did I miss anything?" Suki said cheerily as she walked into the room, and Zuko wondered when his home became such the popular hangout.

"Other than Sparky having a baby, nope." Toph picked her nails; seeing Zuko pinch the bridge of his nose through the earth using her feet. Suki and her husband snickered. Aang just laughed.

"Alright you troublesome idiots, let's leave my wife in peace and talk about the boring stuff in my office." The Fire Lord made a shooing gesture at the assembled crowd.

They were all quiet as they walked through the hallways; everyone thinking of a variation of the same topic, of the island Tribes that could contain the dragons Zuko hoped for. The six of them sat down in his office, sipping on tea silently; waiting for him to speak. The golden eyed man sighed for what felt like the millionth time that day.

"As you all know, the paperwork and permits to cross Earth Kingdom waters have finally been filled out and signed. All that's left is to stock up on rations and pack up; the perishable goods should arrive within the week." The young Fire Lord glanced around at his comrades; preparing himself for what he was going to say next.

"But as only Aang and myself know; these dragons we are looking for are not the only ones left." He met everyone's eyes, and continued in a serious tone. "What I'm about to tell you should never be spoken of after we leave this room, understood?" They all nodded, even Aang; though he knew what Zuko was going to say.

"We ended up meeting a civilization that…" He went on to the explain the events over four years ago that led up to him and the Avatar meeting what they thought were the last two dragons alive, and the realization of how his uncle had lied about slaying the last one to keep the ancient creatures safe.

The two beasts had taught them that fire was life, and should be respected; because life could harm as well as heal. "...And since I don't want them to come after me, please don't tell anyone about what I've just told you, alright?" The group agreed again, and Zuko smiled at his teammates; glad for their support. Having friends that you can trust was a good feeling.

Sokka was deep in thought about this, and he wondered just how sentient dragons were; to be able to communicate through flame alone… the entire process must be extremely complex.

These reptiles were not mere animals, and that meant that they needed to be prepared. Accidentally insulting something that can turn you to ash in mere seconds would not be the ideal way to go out. He was going to make sure no one died from being under prepared. They had all learned at least the basics of Norse, but that might not be enough.

"Zuko, what kinds of dragons are there? You've said there are possibly hundreds of different breeds, but what else do you know? Do they all have different abilities, and what can we do if we're faced against one on the ship ride over?" Sokka asked through steepled finger-tips. The tall, scarred man across from southern water Tribesman shook his head in irritation.

"The documents are severely outdated, so there's no telling what new kinds have been found since then. And I think they might have left out details on purpose. All the texts say is that the dragons there were more likely to attack humans than the ones here, but the exact reason wasn't stated. About meeting one while on the ship…" The Fire Nation Royal paused.

"Well, the ship is metal, so we don't have to worry about sinking from a fire. But we'll just get to that if it actually happens, because I'm not entirely sure what those kinds of dragons can do." Zuko scratched his small goatee as he finished. He sincerely hoped that they would not run into anything dangerous on the way.

"So we're really not sure about what we'll find, are we?" Sokka said with a raised eyebrow.

"No, we are not. But it'll be nice to do something together again; just us, against whatever the world throws at us… no duties or paperwork or council meetings or…" Zuko trailed off with a cough at spotting the other's amused smirks.

"Anyways," he continued speaking. "It'd be nice to actually get out and do something. And I've already told the Fire Nation elders that I'm just checking up on the borders; it's actually somewhat true, but this way we don't have anyone trying to claim the dragons for other purposes."

"Good job. When do we leave on our quest of glory?" The blind teenager asked, her head tilted slightly to the side.

"Very soon… a week most likely. I only hope that my uncle and Mai will have no trouble with the council while I'm gone. And then there's…" Zuko shook his head, "never mind, it'll be fine." Zuko answered Toph. He was lost in thought for a moment, and he missed the concerned glances passed around by the group. Finally, Sokka seemed to put some things together.

"Hey, don't worry about Mei-Lien too much, she'll be here when you get back, and it's not like you aren't going to be sending messenger-hawks every few days." The water tribesman said wryly. Zuko exhaled wearily.

"Yes, I'm sure she'll be fine… but what about the rest of us? We're about to travel to unknown lands, and who _knows_ what we might find. Do you really think this will be the same as our previous adventures? Back then we had maps, and firsthand accounts on what we were up against. This is completely different, because all the data we have now is from several _decades_ ago. We are basically going in blind." The Fire Lord gave his friends a grim look; Aang grinned at him. Toph gave him an unamused stare.

"We're awesome! What could possibly go wrong?" The teenager grinned at the serious man, and Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose.

"What have I told you about taunting the universe, Aang?! Now anything could happen!"

"That's the spirit! Yes, we _can_ do anything!" The airbender snickered as he patted Zuko on the head in a 'there, there' motion.

"Why is my life so strange…?" The man with the phoenix tail headpiece groaned into his hands. But he knew, deep down, that he wouldn't have it any other way; normal isn't for him, so why would this trip be any different?

* * *

"Agh! Not again! _Seriously,_ what is wrong with those two? It's like they get into trouble every time I turn around." Hiccup grumbled to himself as he ran towards the roaring fire. The Thorston twins had -unsurprisingly- set off a large container of Zippleback gas right on the docks… where incidentally, trader Yohann had been about to cast off in his ship after making a rewarding -money wise- stop on Berk.

The young Chief paused in his mad dash and panted; he was out of breath, but just then Toothless showed up beside him nudging his arm. "Thanks, bud." He rasped out and pulled himself into the saddle. Together, they flew off in the direction of the flames.

Hiccup reached the docks seconds later to receive grateful looks from the trader. Yohann was a thin, old man, but he had a wry sense of humor that could make someone smile despite any situation. The man had started trade with Berk years earlier, and was very loyal to the Vikings in the area; he would never even think of betraying them to outsiders. He was known to tell innumerable tall tales about his home country, and he always had the most unique wares for sale.

Steam rose from the dock as the young Chief put out the fires with a large barrel held between Toothless' front paws. The barrel was designed especially for circumstances like this, and worked quickly to prevent any damage to the ships in the harbor. A quick switch of the mechanism by the opening of the container released the water, and effectively doused any flames; one of Hiccup's own designs. Extremely useful in a village that contained fire-breathing dragons. Fires were quite common, and commonly started on a daily basis.

"Hiccup! How nice to see you, it's so early I had thought we weren't going to meet before my departure." Yohann's eyelids crinkled with his warm smile.

"Well, I've been a bit busy as of late." Hiccup shrugged his shoulders casually after he dismounted Toothless; the black dragon then ran off to sniff at the smoking ashes around the dock.

The aged trader smiled ruefully at the young man standing in front of him. "I'm sure you have been busy. What with being the first Grand Chief in living memory and all."

"Yeah… that's only because no one wants to be the Chief of their _own_ clans. They'd all rather have me in charge for some unfathomable reason." Hiccup said in irritation.

"The hatred of paperwork must have outweighed the instinct Viking's seem to have to want more power." Yohann chuckled as he clapped a hand on the slim man's back; making him stumble forward slightly before catching himself.

Hiccup shook his head with a sigh, but at the same time a small smile curved his lips. "One of these days I'll be found drowned by files in my own office. With my luck, no one would notice my body for days."

Yohann laughed loudly at the heavy humor in the Chief's words. It was nice to find someone in a powerful position that not just understood, but frequently used sarcasm. "So Yohann, how's trade going? Anything new come up recently that I should know about?"

"Not particularly, but I have to thank you for the idea of employing those who used to be dragon trappers as muscle for trading ships. Made my job easier, and safer too. Hardly anyone tries to boss me around anymore with a burly watchman on board _my_ ship. Not that they did so before, I've got a mean swing, I do." The gray haired man flexed his arm for emphasis; which caused Hiccup to stifle his snicker with a loud cough.

"I'm sure. But what I really want to know, is if you've heard anything from… out there." Hiccup gestured to the sky.

"Like what?" Yohann raised an eyebrow at the young man.

"You've told a lot of stories. I want to know what is true, and what you know of the countries outside of these islands."

The old trader was about to claim that they were only silly tall tales, but the wonder in Hiccup's eyes made him think. Here was a man who wanted to learn, and genuinely was searching for new life. Hope was what was in Hiccup's gaze, and Yohann knew what the dragon war had taken from the the young Chief. Who was he to deny information from someone that only wished peace for his people?

The gray-bearded trader smiled happily at the one legged man in front of him. "What if it's all true? Even though I'm not a bender myself, I came from the Earth Kingdom, and I know what I've seen."

Hiccup's eyes widened, this changed everything. There really were people who could move elements with their bare hands; this was amazing. But…

"Why haven't we met anyone like that?" Hiccup asked, his face scrunched up in thought. He knew that they would have ran into someone at some point; especially with his luck.

"Probably because the waters are very dangerous past a certain point in these island waters. The winds change easily, so sailing would be made very difficult." Yohann ran a calloused hand through his beard.

"Then how did you get here? If you came from the outer countries, how'd you find the islands?" Hiccup questioned.

Yohann took a deep breath, and gazed out into the sky. After a few more moments contemplating, he started his response; Toothless nudging the man's arm to comfort him. "I was very young, and I was on the crew of a simple merchant's cargo ship. The captain was a good man; always fair. Anyways, he took us through waters not far from where the Bog Burglar clan lived, and we… the ship was attacked and sunk."

The man sighed sadly, "I managed to grab some broken pieces of wooden railing, and made my way to the closest land. Which was, coincidentally, where the Bog Burglars were living."

Old eyes crinkled in mischief as Yohann continued. "They taught me a lot about where the safest paths through these waters were, and a lot are very hard to spot, yet they _are_ there. If you only look closely. I didn't just visit there, no, this was a whole 'nother civilization to me!"

The aged man grinned at Hiccup's nearly transfixed gaze; it was nice to have the attention of a youngin' these days. "I traveled around, always making sure to stay out of the way of any dragons, and I visited many of the islands here. Not all, but pretty darn close."

The young Chief nodded his head in thought; thinking about how much he still had to learn about the Viking clans. He had never known that there was a way through the treacherous currents surrounding the islands, and always thought they were basically impenetrable from the outside; unless you had a Bewilderbeast pulling your ship through the currents like Drago Bludvist had.

"But there is another thing you might want to know about, Hiccup." Yohann's eyes were as unbreakable as stone when he gathered the young Chief's attention. "Bending may not be found only outside these waters, and sometimes; generations later, someone will pop up with the ability to shift an element with their will."

Then tired eyes lit up with happiness as Yohann grinned at Hiccup. "Now, just think on that for a bit. Since I really have to be setting off, and good talk, good talk!" Yohann then added in a mutter, "where are those two? There were supposed to be at the dock already, Vikings are so unreliable sometimes."

"Who do you have as a guard on your ship? I can go find them if you want." Hiccup asked Yohann with a smile. Being the Chief meant that he needed to know his people, and so he would know better than anybody else where someone was on Berk.

"Aye, that would be helpful. You should know Eret and Camicazi, right?"

"Camicazi! You have her as a guard? Why?" Hiccup knew who she was. Camicazi was a wild-haired Bog Burglar, and the daughter of Bertha; who was the one in charge of that clan. The blond was an insane teenager with an insatiable thirst for adventure, and was constantly demanding to duel with him. Hiccup could already feel a headache coming on right then, and he hoped to get out of there before she showed up.

"Why not, she's strong, and can scare most anyone with her energetic attitude and morbid humor. Well, morbid for non-vikings. But she's a good kid. I'm sure she'll do great on her first guarding trip, and just in case, I'm bringing Eret as well. So I'm sure we'll be just fine."

Even with Yohann's words Hiccup wasn't so sure; things just went… wrong, when Camicazi was around. But he nodded anyway; no need to worry about things that would happen anyway, and at least with Camicazi, he could be sure of Yohann's safety.

"Alright, if you're sure then. I'll be going since I don't really think me meeting Camicazi would be beneficial to you leaving on time. And look- there's Eret, so I'm sure that she's not far behind him, see you later!" Hiccup waved to an amused Yohann as he quickly mounted Toothless and took off; just in time to see a flash of a wild mane of blond hair, and hear maniacal laughter. Hiccup shuddered, "that was close, she's _scary."_ Toothless just rumbled in exasperation at his human friend.

They landed in the street in front of his house, just in time to spot the twins finishing up painting his roof bright orange. After exchanging a glance with Toothless; they both walked forward until they were right behind the two unknowing tricksters.

"I can't wait to see Hiccup's face when he sees _this._ " Ruffnut's paintbrush jerked as she stifled her laughter.

"Yeah, he'll be so _furious."_ Tuffnut said, also snickering.

"Haha! Good one Tuff, _furious,_ 'cause of his Night Fury." They continued their gleeful vandalism until they heard someone clearing their throat from behind them. The two siblings turned slowly, and it felt as if time stopped when they gazed at an unimpressed Hiccup. Toothless, beside the young Chief, had a similar expression.

"Uh... Buh..." Tuffnut said eloquently.

"Hey, we can explain this, um…" Ruffnut looked panicked as she turned to her twin for a way out of the situation.

"The orange paint is because… dragons like bright colors! Yeah, and you want them to like your house, don't you? So you should really be thanking us for helping you out, yup." Tuffnut grinned smugly, and rested his hands on his hips.

Hiccup smiled widely, "oh, is _that_ why? Well, sure, I'll _thank_ you."

"Really? That'd be great!" Ruffnut grinned the same grin as Tuffnut, and they butted heads in excitement.

"What's our reward? Is it gold, jewels, ooh! Are we going to be... on the _council?!"_ Tuffnut gasped; he had always tried to listen in on those meetings, but he'd never accomplished it, yet.

Hiccup grinned and gripped both of their shoulders; then the grin abruptly dropped. "You get the joyful job of mucking out the dragon stables." The twins faces fell. "But since you _love_ being thanked so much, you can do clean them out for a whole week."

"Wait, hey! We were just joking around, no need to be hasty!" Ruffnut pleaded; mucking out dragon dung was one of the worst things to do, and always used as a punishment because no one wanted to do it otherwise.

"Fine." The twins sighed in relief. "You get to muck it out for a month." And before they could protest against this, he added, "and if you don't get started right _now_ I'll add even _more._ " The sound of their scurrying feet was music to his ears.

Hiccup sighed tiredly, "I swear, one of these days they'll get into something _serious._ But I'm just glad they're on our side, we'd be in real trouble if they weren't. They may be idiots, but they're _our_ idiots." The Night Fury nodded his head swiftly in agreement.

They walked inside the house, and Hiccup bit back a curse. A few of the older Viking men were inside; including Spitelout -Snotlout's father- and Gobber. The group was often referred to as the council, even though Hiccup was Chief, and held the power to make any and all actions regarding the village; the council was there to help make decisions for warfare, and what was best for Berk. They were gathered around the rather large table in the living room, apparently waiting for Hiccup to arrive. They stopped their argument when they noticed him in the doorway, and Gobber motioned Hiccup over.

"Ah, just the young man we were discussing. Come in, come in!" Gobber smiled at him, and Hiccup hesitantly walked inside his house and sat in the empty chair at the head of the table; where the highest in rank belonged. He knew those looks on their faces, they were serious about this meeting.

"Hiccup, you really should think about this; every Chief needs an heir. And you especially since the other clans look to you for support and leadership." Spitelout said slowly. Hiccup scrutinized his somewhat distant relative, and Spitelout looked away as he scratched the side of his head uncomfortably. This was not a topic that the Jorgenson family head wanted to broach, but it needed to be done.

"I know what you're saying, but don't you think it could wait a while? I mean, do I really need to get married so soon?" Hiccup tried to deflect the conversation, and picked at the splinters in the table's surface distractedly.

"You can't just put this off forever, you need to think this through! Your parents were a few years younger than you are now when they became engaged; put this off any longer, and the Viking clans on the other islands might try to marry one of their own women to have an advantage with their Grand Chief! Have you thought about that at all? And what would you and Astrid do if that _does_ happen?" Spitelout continued with heat, and then sighed sadly at the young Chief's pained expression.

"Just think about this, alright? No need to make a commitment right this second." Spitelout smacked him on the shoulder and walked out of the house.

Hiccup sat there in silence as the rest of the council left, and he had lost track of the time as he thought about the decision that needed to be made. He loved Astrid, and he would marry her in a heartbeat… but he wasn't sure if she would say yes. He wanted her to be happy, but this would be something that'd make her a target for his enemies. The outcasts were still a problem, and now that he knew the bending countries existed; the world seemed a whole lot bigger. _I don't know if I can keep you safe, Astrid._

Toothless nudged him and Hiccup looked down at his best friend. "Yeah, I know what I _should_ do, but I'm not sure I'll have the courage to ask her, Bud." He needed a distraction, something to keep his attention until he could think of a game plan.

The door opened and Astrid came in with an armful of files, "did you know that your roof is _orange_. I mean, nothing against going against the grain, but _that's_ just weird and- what's going on?" She set the paperwork down on the side of the table closest to the door, and walked to the other side to study his stressed form.

"Nothing, I'm fine." Hiccup said; not looking at her.

"You're not fine, something happened, what is it? Is Toothless okay? And your mom?" Astrid asked worriedly, her boyfriend was acting strange. Well, _stranger._

Hiccup sighed. "Everything's _fine,_ really. Now what do you have there?" He gestured to the files, and Astrid narrowed her eyes; usually Hiccup would do anything to get out of working, but right then he was _deliberately_ getting started on paperwork.

Something was up, and Astrid would find out what. Just not right now; Hiccup obviously needed some time to think over what was bothering him. But she _would_ find out whatever was bothering him, or her name wasn't Astrid Hofferson.

"This is all just the normal stuff; reports of arson, stolen soup… you know, the usual. The only remarkable thing is a request from the Berserker clan for someone to help with an ice problem, or something." Astrid watched as he nodded absentmindedly until the part about the ice; his eyes widened with some connection only he had made.

"Ice, you said?" Hiccup asked calmly, but Astrid could see the wheels turning inside his head a mile a minute.

"Yeah, lots of ice, but I'm not sure why that'd be…" She trailed off as she also made the connection.

"The Bewilderbeast that Drago enslaved was never found after it fled into the ocean." Hiccup said simply, and stretched as he stood up.

"Where are you going? You're not planning on going over there, are you?" Astrid questioned.

"They asked for help, and Berserkers rarely ask for help if they don't actually need some. I'm the Chief; it's my duty to help my people." He continued at her glare, "I won't do anything stupid, just take a look around to see what's going on." Toothless' tongue was hanging out of his mouth as he ran around the room in excitement, and his human packed a few small bags to take with them.

"I should go with you, and-"

"No. Stay here and help my mother with Berk, okay? You and her I trust the most, so I need you to do this; besides, I've survived _way_ more dangerous situations, so don't worry too much." He kissed her as he made his way to the door; documents from the Berserkers in hand. Grinning, he said, "this'll be good for me, Astrid. Things have been too quiet and I need some action."

"Just make sure to let people know where you're off to; because I don't want to explain yet _another_ one of your disappearances-"

Astrid groaned as Hiccup took off into the sky, "you'll owe me for this, you got that, Hiccup!" She yelled after his fast retreating form, and was that… laughter? Oh, he was going to get it as soon as he got back.

Stormfly butted her head into Astrid's back to gain her attention, and the young woman ran her hand down her dragon's head. She sighed in exasperation, looking into Stormfly's calm, large eyes. "That idiot would never have become this amazing without me by his side, right girl?" Stormfly snorted in agreement.

* * *

Zuko was enjoying the breeze on the deck of _The Lotus Dragon,_ and listened to the wind whistling by as the steam-powered ship moved forwards. He really was hoping that they would find what they were looking for, because it would be somewhat embarrassing and sad if he went through all this trouble to be greeted with nothing but long-dead rumors.

The young Fire Lord thought back to his conversation with his uncle, and he closed his eyes as he remembered the words Iroh had told him.

 _He held Mei-Lien in his arms, and smiled at his infant daughter. Iroh walked up and laid a hand on the young man's shoulder. "She looks very similar to you. But let's hope that doesn't mean she will have to go through what you did. Despite how you turned out in the end, I wouldn't wish anyone take on the same challenges you had, nephew."_

 _The scarred man shook his head with a small smile. "Don't worry, she's my little princess, she won't be getting into anything anytime soon."_

" _You shouldn't be too sure of that. Once she becomes a toddler, nothing will be off limits." General Iroh responded wryly._

 _Zuko sighed. "I only wish that I will come back; hopefully in one piece, to see her grow older."_

 _Iroh nodded. "Your choice in not informing the Fire Nation Council of the true nature of your trip, was a very good idea indeed. There will be no need to cause undue panic if you are wrong about this."_

" _I am pretty certain that I'm right. The scrolls were very specific about certain things. And Air Nomads -excluding Aang- had not seemed to be have been the kind of people to make things like this up." Zuko's lips twitched as little Mei-Mei's hand gripped his finger. So cute._

" _I never said I doubted you, but it's always best to have a backup plan." Iroh's expression hardened, and showed the experience that he had gained as a commander in the war, years ago._

" _There are some who would do anything to gain a dragon's power, and so we must do what we can to hide that you're not merely 'checking the borders'. Just… stay safe, nephew. I'll keep an eye on my grand-niece and Mai, so you only have to worry about yourself, and your comrades. I don't want to bury another son."_

 _Zuko looked away. "Thanks for the tip, I'll keep it in mind. And don't worry, dragons were the first firebenders, and I've already met two." He grinned at his uncle, "what's a few more?"_

Looking back, Zuko was not too sure anymore. They had been traveling for six days, and everything was calm. Serene, even. The only eventful thing that had been happening was the occasional current that disrupted the ship's momentum, which was expected, from the writings about the waters near the islands. Katara had used waterbending to fix those without any issues.

But the silence was too eerie. Zuko didn't trust it, and he knew that soon; something would go wrong.

That wasn't even what was bothering him the most right now. No, that was how he was going to break it to the Avatar that all of the information Zuko had on dragons... originally came from the Air temples. _This will definitely be a_ tad _bit awkward._

Zuko looked around the deck to where Aang was playing with Momo by blowing streams of air at the flying-lemur's wings; which made the chattering animal's flight go in all directions. The scarred man shook his head at the cackling teenager.

"Aang, come over here, there's something you need to know." Zuko said, loud enough for the Avatar to hear him over the lemur-monkey's noise.

Aang turned around and grinned at his friend. "No prob!" The tattooed teen whooshed over to Zuko. "What's up?"

"Well, it's about where I got the files that had information about dragons. Aang-" The Fire Lord stopped speaking and nearly fell from the jarring impact; Aang fell down and slid a few meters away, taken off guard.

Something had hit the side of the ship. Hard.

"Everyone on deck!" Zuko yelled, before he stalled in his tracks; staring wide eyed at the sight in front of him.

There was an immense, tusked dragon -what else could it be- in the water at the front of his ship. And this thing was larger than any dragon be had ever heard of, ever. One tusk was broken off halfway, and the monster's eyes were full of deep hatred. The giant beast looked directly at the young Fire Lord…

And breathed out ice.

* * *

 ** _A.N.: Yeah, sorry about the cliff hanger, but I thought it was a great place to end. :) Thank you so much for reading this story, even though some nice, juicy reviews would definitely make me update much, much faster._**

 ** _This is the longest chapter I have ever written, so I hope you(anyone who reads this) will prove to me that this is something that you enjoy. ;)_**

 ** _Drago is dead, and he will not be showing up. :) Much stuff, so ice._**

 ** _Ciao!_**


	3. Odd Abilities Can Be Found Anywhere

_**I'm not dead! Wooooot! Anyways, I was actually planning on finishing this chapter a week ago, but I got tied down with schoolwork. :/ But, here it is now! I hope you enjoy. ;)**_

 _ **I don't own these awesome things of the mostest bestest. Sadly. :'( This is also self betaed, so if there's bad grammar or spelling mistakes, my bad.**_

 _ **\\_(-_-)_/**_

 _ **This is set four years after A:TLA, and two years after HTTYD2. Also, I added some OCs, but they are necessary for plot. So please don't hate me. :(**_

* * *

 _ **()!()!()~~ And, because one of my awesome reviewers asked, here are the characters' ages. :)**_

 _ **Aang-17**_

 _ **Katara-18**_

 _ **Sokka and Suki-20**_

 _ **Toph-16**_

 _ **Zuko-21**_

 _ **Hiccup, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, Fishlegs, and Astrid-22**_

 _ **Eret-about 23(not sure about canon age)**_

 _ **Camicazi-17**_

* * *

 _ **Lost Things Are Inevitably Found**_

Hiccup and Toothless landed softly on the island the Berserkers inhabited, and gazed around for the welcome party. Berserkers' were very terrifying and almost without any humanity when they were angry, but when they were calm they were actually okay to be around. And very good at making pie.

"Yo, Grand Chief! How's it hanging?" A bulky man strolled onto the beach, his ears were pierced by small bones and his dark brown hair was kept in a shaggy ponytail. The man may be completely pleasant and cheerful at most times, but Hiccup knew that the currently highest ranking Berserker clansman was a deadly warrior unlike any other.

And once a Berserker became angry, they appear to lose their very humanity and sense of surroundings. Insult them -intentionally or not- and they're nothing more than mindless, rage-consumed beasts of power. And best pointed in the direction of enemies, while everyone else _gets back_ and takes cover. Long story short? _Never_ piss off a Berserker. Not if you want to continue living, or maintain the joy of having limbs.

Hiccup turned to the grinning man and smiled in return. They shook hands and the younger man looked around for any remnants of the ice problem that was the nature of the message sent by a Terrible Terrors messenger, but he didn't see any ice. Or anything remotely resembling ice. "...why was I _really_ called here, Talon?"

Said man shifted uncomfortably, and hesitantly answered. "The real reasons were not fit to be put in the letter I sent you. There have been ice problems, yes, but it's more about _water_ as a whole… some of my people have been moving it, you see."

Hiccup frowned in confusion, but then his eyes widened as he realized what the man in front of him was implying. _Yohann did say that bending was not as lost to the islands as everyone thought._

"How?" The Chief sank down onto the sand, his legs had suddenly felt like they were made of yak-blubber. "How is this possible?"

Talon stared at him; tensed and ready for something that he expected to happen. But honestly hoped it didn't. "What will you do with them?" He asked quietly.

"Do? What do you mean? What would I do with them, they're your people." Hiccup asked, confused as to why the man was acting similar to a beached fish that was about to be eaten by a terrifying and hungry dragon.

"In Viking culture… this would be considered sorcery. And would be punished by execution. By death. No one has shown any signs of controlling the waves in decades; at least, not recorded."

Talon continued before Hiccup could interrupt. "Maybe nothing like this has happened to anyone on Berk, but I would understand if you want us to keep tradition." He finished in a quiet, almost defeated sounding voice.

"What?! No, of course not." Hiccup's proclamation shocked the other man, and Talon looked up from the ground; stared, dumbfounded, at the Grand Chief. Hiccup continued. "Why would I want you to do that? Tradition used to be killing dragons before they killed you, and I proved that ideal to be completely unnecessary and idiotic. So why can't I do the same with this?"

The Chief laid his hand on the other man's shoulder with a small smile. "They are your people… just let me see what we are dealing with here, and I'll do my best to help. We've had enough death from the dragon war, so how 'bout let's not be hasty?"

Talon's eyes filled with relief, but he was still tense and unsure of what Hiccup's reaction would be to actually meeting the people they had just spoken about. Ask any Viking, and they'd tell you Grand Chief Hiccup was a great man. But he was also a warrior, and he had his people to protect. No matter what. _A Chief protects his own,_ was the mantra from Hiccup's late father, Stoick the Vast; a powerful man. One of the best of any of the fondly remembered chieftains.

A great leader. Something that must run in the blood. Hiccup is nothing, if not caring. For his people, and for his dragons. A great match that his Night Fury was also an alpha, so they both could lead their own kind; while standing side by side in unbreakable friendship.

Talon led the way down the beach to the sturdy village surrounded by black, unyielding stone. The Berserker island was full of defenses -catapults, natural quicksand pits, numerous highly trained archers- and no one has ever managed to chase them off their rock they called home. The midnight walls and uneven gates were decorated with, and made out of, what looked to be many different sizes of sharpened bones.

Two warriors, one tall and bulky, and the other shorter and somewhat thin, but with a gleam in his eyes that told of much untapped potential and knowledge; stepped into the village's walls.

Hiccup took everything in, and raised a brow in curiosity as Talon led him into what he knew was the older man's own hut. When they walked inside -they had left a sulking Toothless outside- the armoured house, Hiccup spotted a cheerful little girl, around seven or eight; having her red hair braided by her mother.

"Rain, this is Chief Hiccup, and he has come to look at our daughter." At her husband's words, the mother looked up nervously, and unconsciously held the girl tighter.

"It's okay, I'm only here to look; nothing will happen to your child. I promise." Hiccup said as calmly as he could, not wanting the woman to go berserk from too much stress.

The female warrior, Rain, nodded and picked her daughter up off her lap and set her on her feet on the wooden floor. Hiccup crouched down to the girl's height, and smiled as she grinned, albeit nervously, at him. "My name is Hiccup -it's alright, you can laugh- can you tell me what your name is? Though I bet yours would be much better than mine."

The little girl giggled at his very unique name, and then replied in a shy voice; rocking back and forth on her heels. "I'm Kari, nice to meet you, Hiccup." The young Dragon Master sighed internally in relief; glad that he wasn't as awful with children as he had first thought.

"What a very pretty name, and I can tell it fits you perfectly." The girl giggled again. "Now, I was called here to help with your very special gift, can you show me?" Hiccup watched as the girl became nervous, and Talon put a hand on her shoulder to keep her calm. Even Berserker children have anger issues.

"Kari, you can show the man, he will not hurt you." The girl stared at the floor, not looking at her father. "I know I said not to let anyone find out, but Chief Hiccup will help you, okay sugar?"

Kari's eyes widened. "You're a Chief?!" She pointed at Hiccup; jaw dropped. "But then why do you have such a weird name? Shouldn't you have a name that's better for that?" She looked adorable with both of her eyebrows raised all the way up, and her head tilted to the side in innocent confusion.

"Yes, well, my name is supposed to keep trolls away; though I'm not sure how that would really work. Maybe my parents just had a sense of humor." Hiccup sighed. "Anyways, I'm only here to help; I consider all of the clans my people, and that includes you." He smiled at her and she grinned back wolfishly.

"Okay, but try not to faint at my awesomeness, mister Hiccup Chief guy!" Kari walked across the room to a bucket of fresh drinking water in the corner. She stuck her small hands inside of it, and when she took them out… the water followed.

"Amazing… I've never seen anything like it." Hiccup breathed in honest astonishment, as the girl continued to weave the ball of water through the air using only her will. It was like magic. _Now I understand why someone would call this sorcery._ But it wasn't. This was waterbending.

"You recognize this." Talon stated; instead of questioned. He had spotted the telltale widening of the other man's eyes.

"Not exactly, but I know what it is, just not how she is able to do it." Hiccup watched as Kari's face scrunched up in concentration. "This is no sorcery; she's a waterbender."

"So the stories about the Elemental Nations are real?" Talon breathed in sharply.

"Yes, they are."

Rain looked at her daughter in wonder. "So our Kari can… but how will she learn more? There's no one that I know of on the islands that can do what she can with water. The Bog Burglars have always had strange rumors around them, though never anything that has to do with waterbending."

"What rumors? I haven't heard anything like that about the Bog Burglars." Hiccup asked Talon's wife. He didn't miss the glance they sent each other, and he knew that they were deciding what knowledge to impart. Deciding if they really _could_ trust him.

Entrusting someone with your life, was, after all, vastly different from trusting another soul with your deepest secrets.

"Some say they're a little _too_ light on their feet than they should humanly be able to be. But you'd have to ask them yourself to know for sure, idle gossip should never be trusted." Rain responded with a harmless looking smile. Like a Berserker could _ever_ be harmless.

 _Ah, so they're trying to sidetrack me; Bog Burglars are notorious at spreading rumors, and never pass up a chance to pull a prank on someone._ But the people in front of him definitely knew the truth about… whatever this was. _Must be something big, then. And they would know that attempting find out directly from the lovable thieves themselves would be anything but helpful._ Hiccup shrugged, he'd find out sooner or later. These kinds of things always came out into the open the most chaotic way possible; especially around him.

The girl had stopped by then, and had put the globe of water back into the bucket. "Daddy, did you see? I could move the water very well!" Kari grinned up at her father.

"Yes, very good." Talon smiled sadly at her. "I only wish we could help you do more with your gift."

Hiccup rubbed his slowly growing facial hair in contemplation. _Already twenty-two and still without an impressive beard. Terrible Viking, just terrible._ He shook his head from the unnecessary thoughts that cropped up every now and then. _Maybe it's just a symptom of severe sleep deprivation. Dang job. Paperwork is_ evil.

"What if I can find someone to help her?" Hiccup asked after a few more moments of thinking. _Yohann should know a way to contact someone that can bend water. I'm pretty sure of it, and even if he can't, I'll just have to find someone myself._

Talon and Rain frowned at him. Then the broad shouldered man spoke. "How would you go about doing that? And how do we know if this person would be trustworthy? I'm not letting just anyone on this island, barely any other Vikings from the other clans are let in. You excluded, of course." Talon's eyes held some dark humor in them. Everyone knew what happened to those who tried to attack the Berserker's home, and not all the bones decorating the walls of their village were from animals.

"I… I have someone that could potentially contact a teacher for your daughter. He's definitely a reliable source, if a bit enigmatic at times." Hiccup said evasively.

"It's Yohann, isn't it." Rain deadpanned.

"That's not.. What I meant was… you know him?" Hiccup gave up and admitted to being caught, asking a question of his own instead.

Rain rolled her eyes at the Chief's startled expression. She wondered what they taught kids these days, because the young man in front of her had absolutely no idea how to shirk a question.

"We've known trader Yohann for years, me and him go way back. He brings wares that we can't find anywhere else, because well… Berserker's can be a little unreliable at a market with their, as some might say, _explosive_ tempers. We're not the best at business that doesn't include whacking a few heads together. Or just dealing with people in general." Talon said self-deprecatingly, and wrapped an arm around his crimson haired wife.

Hiccup nodded with a wry smile. He understood what was being said, and was glad that these people had someone as mild mannered as Yohann. The old trader had accepted dragons fairly well, years ago. So why wouldn't he have looked past all the gruesome stories that claimed Berserkers were nothing but bloodthirsty savages, as well? Every argument had two sides, after all. And sometimes, even more than that.

Kari walked over to Hiccup and startled him by wrapping her small arms around him in a hug. She grinned up at him through messy, orange hair. "Thank you."

"What for?" Hiccup frowned. Why would she thank him? He didn't even do anything. Of course he was _planning_ to find a way to help her, but that may take a while, and depended on whether or not Yohann had any waterbender contacts.

"For not being mad because of what I can do. You're a nice man, mister Hiccup, Chief person." Kari smiled and let go of his middle. She ran over to her parents, hiding behind her mother's leg. She peeked out to look at Hiccup from her mother's side with a giggle.

Light green eyes lit up happily as the young Chief looked down at the little girl. A Viking waterbender. _What could possibly happen to be more exciting than that?_

Suddenly alarm bells were being rung, and enraged shouts could be heard from outside. The door burst open with a crash as Toothless ran inside the large hut, startling Kari.

 _I really, really should stop taunting the universe. It never ends well._ Hiccup breathed in a preparing breath of air to calm himself for whatever was going to happen next.

Toothless ran to his side and nuzzled the one legged man, checking to see if the idiot human was still in the same condition as when he'd let the him go inside by himself. At least that was what Hiccup imagined the handicapped black dragon thought.

"It's alright, Toothless, I'm perfectly fine. Not sane, but okay nevertheless." Hiccup consoled. Toothless snorted, but calmed down a little. The Chief glanced over at the others inside the cabin, reminding himself that not all the clans have as plentiful an amount of dragons as Berk's inhabitants.

The Berserkers really only had experience with the Skrill, and that lightning-wielding dragon had been lost for several years now. Ever since Dagur -the previous chief of the Berserkers- was stopped by Berk's dragon riders when he tried to take over the riders' island. Dagur had then became deranged and was later exiled due to his treachery to his own people. He was killed two years previously by Drago Bludvist's army.

Shaking his head to concentrate on the here and now, Hiccup turned to the red haired girl. "Kari, this is Toothless, and he's very nice so you don't have to afraid of him. You can even pet him, see?" He said, placating the shy girl, and then showed her where to put her hands on the dragon. Kari was giggling as she quickly became distracted with the Night Fury, and Hiccup turned to make eye contact with a worried looking Talon.

The loud yells and clattering from outside were getting louder, and Hiccup could make out the sound of clashing metal. Who would be stupid enough to attack the home of the Berserkers? It would not just be idiotic, but plain _suicidal._ Only one group of Vikings would have the nerve to do this-

"Outcasts." Talon spoke aloud, his pupils already starting to dilate with his anger.

"Well, what are we standing around here for? Let's go show those no-good, lying thieves why they should've just stayed on their island in exile!" Hiccup shouted, unsheathing the handle of his retractable sword and releasing the blade to its full length, flint and steel at the ready to alight the dragon-saliva coated sword with fire.

Talon grinned and they both took off running out of the hut, and then stopped abruptly. The Berserkers had already pushed the Outcast warriors back to the shore, and hadn't appeared to be sweating or tiring in the least bit. Nope, the island's inhabitants appeared to be _enjoying_ the invasion, as short as it was.

"Well, that was disappointing. I didn't even have to get out the explosive arrows." Rain said sadly from behind them, holding a strung longbow in her hands.

"Yeah. Looks like they're already boarding their ship and leaving. Still, it doesn't even make sense that they would try to attack us in broad daylight. They know how strong we are, and they just don't have the numbers to face off against our warriors; especially if we become angry. So why do it?" Talon said, rubbing his beard with a thoughtful expression.

As the Berserkers who had been fighting the not well thought out ambush came back up from the beach, Hiccup went through different scenarios inside his head about all the possible reasons for this attack. _What would the Outcasts gain?_ The island was chock full of high-grade iron ore, one of the reasons the Berserkers liked the area so much. Weapons were very important to them.

 _What would be worth risking their lives for?_ Nothing. Hiccup couldn't think of anything to answer that question. Sure, iron ore was useful, very useful, for mass-producing weapons and such. But there were numerous islands -some even uninhabited- that also had stores of ore. So that couldn't be the reason for the assault.

Hiccup scratched Toothless behind the ear as the curious dragon came out of Talon's home. "What do you think, Bud? Can you guess the reason behind this attack?"

Toothless snorted dismissively.

"What does it matter if it's already over and done with? We need to know _why._ And I don't believe the Outcasts are as moronic as this event just revealed them to be. Something's up, and I'm going to find out what." Hiccup said, and nodded his head in resolution. He'd find out the real reason behind this, and hopefully before anyone got hurt.

* * *

Eret sighed contently as he stretched out against Skullcrusher's scaly side. He was enjoying this guarding mission so far, and hoped it stayed as uneventful as it had been going. No attacks, steady breeze in the sails, and plenty of quiet to take a light doze in…

"Eret! Let's play a game, come _on._ Please? Please, please, _please?"_ Camicazi drew out the last please and gave the former dragon trapper her best puppy eyes she could manage. "Do you hate me? Is that why you're ignoring me? I bet it is. Is is because I'm blonde?" The Bog Burglar girl gasped. "You think I'm stupid because of my hair color, don't you?!" She shouted in outrage.

Eret sighed. _So much for a peaceful afternoon._ "No. That's not the reason." He said, closing his eyes again.

"Oh. Good." Camicazi grinned. Then frowned as some inane thought of hers got her attention. "Then what _is_ the reason?" She said, glaring at him.

Eret groaned in exasperation. This had been his life for the past several hours, and if it wasn't for the fact that he had Skullcrusher with him -Yohann's upgraded ship was large enough to fit several riding dragons- he would've jumped overboard the first hour at sea. No, that wasn't quite right. He would've jumped off the first _ten minutes._

Camicazi was just plain _insane._ And not the good kind of insane that made Hiccup decide to train a Night Fury; the crazy kind that led to blown up meeting halls, and sweaters on chickens, and… other extremely terrifying things.

"Leave the poor man alone, lass." One of the shiphands, Dart, said with a smile. And Eret relaxed. "He's just not all that great at talking to girls, so he's just being shy." Dart said, and smirked at Eret's betrayed glare in his direction. Dart was just messing with the kids, it was the only worthwhile entertainment on this boat.

"Oh, really?" Camicazi said, batting her eyelashes at Eret. He could see her trying to stifle her snickering.

Eret sighed. "Just go... watch the clouds, or something." He said. And he deliberately ignored the crazy girl's salute as she skipped away from him, humming a catchy tune.

Eret guessed that she must have gone to check on her messenger dragons that she'd brought along. Bog Burglars had been found to be adept at training Terrible Terrors at sending letters, and Camicazi had several of the small dragons since her mother was basically in charge of the excessively borrowing clan. Read; polite thieves. Shaking his head, Eret closed his eyes, and laid back against Skullcrusher's side for what felt like the ninth time that day.

So far they had been sailing for an entire day, but there were making great time since Yohann knew all the good routes to avoid the choppiest currents, allowing them to bypass all those unsafe waters that could pull even the most buoyant ships under their depths. Eret shuddered, and he couldn't help pitying any poor souls who tried to sail through these waves without someone who knew them personally. That would be disastrous.

"Looks like it's smooth sailing from here on out, Skull." Eret said through a yawn. There was nothing to worry about, and nothing to do but relax and enjoy the ride. Oh yes, he could definitely get used to this.

"What, in Thor's name, is _that_?!" A high pitched yell from the other side of the ship disturbed his resting.

"Camicazi, I swear, if this is just another trick to make me panic and give you an excuse to throw me overboard to 'save my life' then I am not going to bother getting up." Eret didn't even bother to open his eyes as he responded lethargically.

"That's a metal ship. A ship made out of metal… and there's some really weird looking people on it." From the sound of the awed, but gruff voice, Eret knew that it was Dart talking.

Slowly, the former dragon trapper opened his eyes. He had decided that whatever was bothering the two most annoying people on the entire boat was something he should look into. Eret stood up and stretched, making his way over to the railing crowded with excited crew members.

Eret stared. There, only a few hundred meters away, was a rather large metal vessel that appeared to be powered from some kind of steam. _Hiccup would be asking them nonstop questions about how it worked if he was here,_ was the first thought that came to his mind.

Shaking his head to concentrate on the matter at hand, he turned his thoughts onto _why_ that ship would be there. And how. Because the water should have been nearly impassible, and no one who looked as foreign as these strangers could have had the knowledge to sail the safer waves to where they needed to go. Already Eret didn't trust these newcomers, who knew what they were here for, and what they planned on doing.

Yohann strided confidently out of the cargo bay doors, and as soon as he saw the other ship, he smiled. "Looks like we might have some company real soon." The old trader hummed, and Eret -along with pretty much every single listening shiphand- glanced at him in confusion, did the old graybeard finally lose his marbles, at last?

"Let's get ready to greet them, since it looks like they haven't noticed us yet." When the crew hesitated, Yohann sighed before elaborating more. "I recognize their flag, it's the symbol of the Fire Nation. And beside that -albeit smaller- are the symbols for air, water, and earth. We can trust these people."

Eret started to walk over to Yohann and was about to question just _how_ the old trader knew the flags of various long-believed-to-be-mere-myth countries well enough to read them from so far away, but Camicazi's unintelligible shouting kept him from the inquiry.

She was pointing furiously at the other ship and blabbering on about monsters. _No,_ Eret thought, she was pointing to what was in the water _beside_ the ship. Quickly as he could, the young man readied a telescope and spied out across the distance.

And what he saw coming out if the water chilled him to his bones.

Feeling as if all the oxygen had left his lungs, Eret rasped at the same as Camicazi whispered, "Drago's Bewilderbeast…" Sharing a glance, the former dragon trapper and Bog Burglar communicated without any words.

Then they simultaneously moved into action. Camicazi ran to her trained Terrible Terrors, and he turned to the crew.

"Yohann! We need to give them backup before they're sunk, the currents will pull under any survivors before they even have a chance, so they'd need our help to keep them from being iced to death." Eret said to the owner of the ship, and the old graybeard nodded happily.

He couldn't see what was happening over there exactly, but from the little he could discern, these new people were hanging in there so far. Eret shook his head, _these people must be fairly sturdy to survive on the ocean with a dragon that uses_ ice, _of all things._ He only hoped that they wouldn't be too startled when Camicazi and himself went over to lend a helping hand.

* * *

The only word that could possibly define what was going on the deck of his ship, would be chaos. Complete, and utter chaos. Throw-a-bucket-full-of-needles-into-a-sandstorm kind of painful, terror-filled chaos.

And Zuko was right in the middle of it.

"Get down!" He heard Katara yell from somewhere to his right, and the young Fire Lord complied. The sinister, teal colored ice that was heading straight for him stopped and was diverted to the side. The ship tilted slightly with the extra weight on on that end of the deck.

Breathing a sigh of relief at not becoming a frozen shish kabob, Zuko quickly ran to where the standard issue trebuchets were tied down, and covered with tarps. He could see Aang running to Katara's side, and the other members wobbling above decks; jarred from the impact of the monstrous dragon's furious charge.

"Men to me!" Zuko yelled, and his honor guard and sailors -excluding the few that had been knocked out- jogged over to his side.

"Are you alright? We saw the ice, and... we give our most sincere apologies for failing in our duties." The ten members of the elite protection team bowed low as one.

Sighing, Zuko replied, "I would never expect anyone, no matter how highly skilled, to pit themselves against that-" he pointed at the dragon. "Understood?" His men nodded. "Good. Because right now I need your help to ready these so we can help melt that ice before it damages this sorry boat, alright?" He said with a small smile, and the men all became less tense. _Good, this is really not the time for nervousness._

The Fire Nation soldiers hurried to Zuko's side to remove the protective tarps covering the trebuchets. They worked quickly and smoothly, and soon were firing spheres of fire to free the thick ice that was covering the opposite end of the large ship. The men also aided in cover fire for distracting the gigantic dragon that had currently mostly retreated back into the water, the tip of the monster's head spines serving as the only evidence of it still waiting for the next opportunity to attack.

Zuko glanced around after that had been done with, and nearly fell backwards when he spotted a small dragon speeding towards him. The green reptile was about the size of small child and was oddly cute, in a way. Until it landed on his face, then it was no longer as cute looking.

Prying the dragon off of him, Zuko held it at arm's length and glared at it. The dragon's tongue lolled out of its mouth as the green animal appeared to smile at him. That's when he noticed the little harness on the dragon's back that looked like it was made for carrying letters. Almost similar to a messenger hawk, Zuko mused.

Opening the leather container, Zuko pulled out a letter stamped with a red seal that looked like a roaring dragon. He broke the seal and noticed it was written in Norse, for a second he wondered if these people could be allied with the dragon attacking his ship, but then he shook his head and decided to just read the letter before he jumped to conclusions.

 _Hi, strange people on the metal boat! We noticed that your ship is under attack by a rogue Bewilderbeast, and as much as we would love to jump to your rescue -we really would, believe me. We just need to know that you would not attack us when we land aboard._

 _As you might have noticed, this area you have entered has dragons, and dragons can be very terrifying._

 _So, as long as you send out your response with Cheese, my Terrible Terror, stating that you are fine with us boarding your ship in an alternative way than usual -since our ship is too far out to get to you in time to help with anything- we would be glad to help out._

 _Sincerely sincere, Camicazi, amazing Viking of awesomeness, and the the best sword master of the Bog Burglar clan. And soon, the world._

Zuko stared at the letter for a moment, before he folded the colorful paper up and put it into his pocket so he could have evidence for later that it really happened. He gazed out over the waters, and spotted a small blur that could only be a ship off into the distance. Zuko blinked when he almost thought that he had seen something only a little smaller than Appa flying around the far away ship's sails.

Turning to the still extremely happy dragon, the Fire Lord took out the extra sheet of paper and writing utensil that were inside another compartment of the dragon's harness-pack thing. He quickly and smoothly wrote back in Norse.

 _We will not attack you or harm you in any way, shape or form. You have my word._

 _However, I will need to inform you that you may see some of my crew and others on board my ship use abilities that may not seem possible. So as long as you do not become frightened of that, we will not feel the same towards what you might have implied in your letter._

 _I thank you for your upcoming assistance, Fire Lord Zuko._

Rolling his reply up, he tucked it back inside the dragon's pack. Zuko wasn't sure if they would end up really needing the help in the end, since there were several pretty capable benders on the deck, despite Toph not being able to see much on the metal flooring. But meeting with the people who lived here would be nothing but beneficial to finding out more about dragons.

* * *

Camicazi frowned at the paper. "This guy must be pretty full of himself. And _what,_ in all festering dragon dung, is a _Fire Lord?"_ she waved the letter around in the air for emphasis.

Eret walked over and was about to take the letter from her to read it himself, but Yohann beat him to it and Camicazi handed it over with an uncaring shrug. Yohann looked over the paper several times before settling to merely stare at the signature with a look of deep thought on his face. "A Fire Lord is a person with much the same position as a chief, a leader of his people. Except he's in charge of a large country several hundred time the size of Berk. And also someone you would not want to piss off."

Camicazi smirked slightly, and Eret felt a shiver of apprehension run down his spine at the feeling of doom the short girl was radiating. Shaking his head, the ex-dragon trapper went to stand beside the, without a doubt, much more sane Yohann.

Reading over the older man's shoulder, Eret raised an eyebrow. "And what abilities could they have that would be just as surprising as riding over there on a dragon?"

"Bending."

The two Vikings stared at Yohann incredulously. They must have heard him wrong, because there was no way he said what they thought he had just said. Catching sight of Eret's disbelieving expression, and Camicazi's carefully placed smile, Yohann shook his head.

"What is it that's so hard to believe about a person bending the elements? Dragons do it, most only bend fire, but there are some that do not. Timberjacks use their enormous wings to channel air into a slicing wind, Whispering Deaths use earthbending to dig tunnels through the ground, and the sea-dwelling Scauldrons are masters of an old form of waterbending that heats water to a boiling point almost instantly." Yohann sighed happily. "You can find the most wondrous things, if only you take the time to look, and keep your mind open."

"So bending is real…" Eret gazed contemplatively at the still far away metal ship. "But why hasn't there been anyone found with the ability to bend around here? Unless it's something that only happens to those born outside these waters? But that still wouldn't make sense because…well, it just wouldn't."

Yohann looked like he was about to add a comment, but Camicazi grabbed Eret's arm and used the limb to point in exasperation at the large ship in the distance, effectively distracting him. Yohann merely shook his head fondly, and walked away to find some slacking sailors for him to scold into doing the work he was paying them for.

"Let's go! Come on. If we don't get there soon, then there won't be anything left for us to fight!" Camicazi complained as she dragged a much too slow Eret to an amused Skullcrusher.

He sighed as he mounted the saddle, and didn't so much as twitch as Camicazi jumped up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. She was practically vibrating in excitement. "Ready?" Eret called out, but he already knew the answer.

"Hell yeah! I was _born_ ready!" Camicazi cackled madly as they took off into the sky, and delighted in the disturbed looks that her laughter brought out from her face-tattooed companion. She sighed mentally, _I will never stop freaking people out for the fun of it, their faces when they're convinced I'm insane are just too hilarious. Not to mention observing how someone reacts to being pushed too far is a great way to judge character._ Staring at the ship they were fast approaching, she tilted her head in thought, _I wonder how these newcomers will react?_

* * *

Smoothly moving her arms through another waterbending stance, Katara deflected the small wave of seawater the massive dragon had sent towards the ship when the beast had reemerged from its retreat into the deadly current's depths.

"Katara! Why do you think it's attacking us? I don't know much about dragons, but this doesn't appear to be their normal behavior." Sokka said, before wincing slightly at his sister's annoyed glare. Obviously Katara was not in the mood for a chat at the moment, he mused, and ducked some greenish ice that was, thankfully, thrown by the dragon. She wasn't actually upset with him. Or she was just too busy to whack him over the head right then.

"Okay, maybe this one's different, since it uses ice instead of fire, but the constant 'retreating and then attacking again' is really starting to get on my nerves. Almost seems as if it's playing with us, like a Polar-bear-dog stepping on an Arctic-mouse's tail, and letting go only to capture it's prey within it's paw just before the little rodent could escape." Sokka ended his revelations with a disturbed shiver.

Katara didn't blame him. The dragon had just hidden itself again in the water, and this time it went completely under; leaving only small whirls of water where it had disappeared. If the beast really was playing with them, they would need to end this fast, before anyone got hurt.

She glanced around, trying to feel the water to get a read on the dragon's position. Frowning, she found the giant beast. Katara could almost feel the water under the ship as the dragon moved, and not for the first time that hour, she wondered what it wanted. There had to be something driving it, some kind of goal that made it attack. Some reason for what was happening.

The ship veered sideways violently as the dragon rammed underneath the metal shell, but Katara managed to steady herself and keep her ready stance with some well placed ice. She could hear Aang trying to keep the spooked Appa calm with soft words, and saw Sokka help Suki up from where the Kyoshi Warrior had fallen in the blast. Toph was holding on for dear life by the railings attached to the entrance that led to below deck, emptying bags of sand that she'd brought on board across the metal flooring.

And then she saw Zuko staring off into the sky with a very pensive expression. _Wait, what?_ She stared at the young Fire Lord, wondering if the guy had finally snapped. She was disturbed from her thoughts by the gasps of the crew around her. Glancing around in confusion, Katara tried to find what they were distracted by. It wasn't until she noticed that the scarred Fire Lord hadn't moved from where he was standing, staring at the sky, that she finally spotted what all the fuss was about.

A dragon was flying right towards the ship. And it had two people on it, an excited, whooping woman, and a frowning man. _They're riding the dragon… how?_ Katara couldn't stop staring. She barely even noticed Zuko waving off the guards on the deck, while saying something about a strange letter. She managed to recollect her brain just as the the strange, green and brownish red colored, neck-plated dragon that reminded her somewhat of a Rhinoceros landed on the deck in front of her.

The grinning woman, who looked more like a girl in her teens -about Katara's own age- from close up, was practically bouncing up and down as she took in as much of the ship as she could after she jumped out of the saddle before the dragon had even landed completely. She had tangled, light blonde hair, and a sword resting on her hip.

The exasperated man, who had a face tattoo and looked to be in his early twenties, had just stepped out of the saddle and onto the deck. He carried a wide dagger sheathed at his belt and a crossbow slung across his back. The man scratched the dragon behind its neck, and turned to Zuko, who Katara had seen start to approach the dragon-riding duo right as they had landed.

"Welcome to my ship, you can call me Zuko. I'm assuming you're from the letter." The young Fire Lord said in Norse.

Katara raised an eyebrow at that, usually he introduces himself more formally. But theses were Vikings, maybe they didn't really have lords. They had chiefs, and Katara knew that in the Water Tribes, or at least the southern, that you didn't rank your Chief as royalty. Maybe that was what the Vikings did too. _And what letter? How come Zuko never tells us these things?_

The beefy dragon rider opened his mouth to introduce himself, but then the girl slung an arm around him and started speaking instead. "I'm Camicazi, and this idiot is Eret. He's okay, when he's not being stupid and dissing blondes." She said with a smug smirk. Eret attempted to remove Camicazi's arm and she effortlessly pulled him into a headlock, nearly choking the breath out of him with her strong grip. Katara couldn't help liking the energetic girl, and Camicazi reminded her of someone she knew, if only she could remember who…

Suddenly, Aang whooshed next to her, and the airbender started bombarding the two newcomers with questions. The two Vikings looked a little dazed, so Katara decided to help out. Putting a hand on the teenage Avatar's shoulder, she spoke up calmly, also in the Norse language. "This is Aang, he's a bit… enthusiastic. And I'm Katara, nice to meet you." Aang stopped buzzing around and gave Eret and Camicazi a sheepish smile.

"Hey, people! I think that's enough introductions for now. Aren't we here to fight a dragon? So… where is it?" Camicazi scratched her head as she glanced around, forehead scrunched up in concentration.

Sokka walked over with a slightly wary Suki, carrying his moon-sword and answered for the group. "The ice dragon is playing with us, and is hiding in the water at the moment, probably just waiting for us to relax before it atta-"

Katara's brother didn't get to finish his sentence before the large reptile they had just been speaking about emerged from the water with a furious roar, moist spray filling the air and soaking everyone on the deck. The horned dragon that Camicazi and Eret had ridden over on let out a distressed whimper upon looking up at the monstrous beast towering over the ship, and Eret laid a soothing hand on it's neck.

Zuko raised a brow and shared an humorless smile with Sokka, raising his arms into a ready position. The Fire Lord then smirked and said, "looks like playtime's over, kids. Now it's time for the real game to begin."

* * *

 ** _Preview for next chapter_**

Katara gazed into the widening eyes of the gigantic dragon in front of her, and she suddenly felt sadness for the animal. This beast had been used as a weapon it's entire life, and now even that pitiful existence was gone. He must feel so alone…

The Bewilderbeast's nostrils flared and she could see the dragon's huge mouth opening wide to attack.

But instead of moving to defend herself, Katara released her control on the water swirling around her arms, and the liquid dropped to the metal deck with a splash. The dragon halted his attack, and tilted his head, studying her; trying to figure her out.

And slowly, Katara smiled.

* * *

 _ **A.N: Yep, that's a wrap. I am ever so sorry for ending it there, but I gave you guys a preview! And about that preview... It's not exactly word for word what's actually going to happen, but as close as I can make it since the next chapter isn't completed yet. ;)**_

 _ **Oh man, I wanted to add so much more... but then it was already 7K and I also didn't want you people to wait so long. So here. Please review and let me know if you have any thoughts, ships or whatever. I am probably not going to have a lot of romance in this story, but the little I do will not be slash. I don't write slash, sorry.**_

 _ **And I can not thank you guys enough. 10 reviews last chapter! Wow! That's amazing since the first chapter only got one review. And that one review was from my sister... so yeah. You people rock! ;D**_

 _ **Also, I had to add in the thing with Sokka's sword because I seriously nearly cried when he lost it in the show. It was a MOON SWORD. And sorry that Toph wasn't really in this chapter, you'll see her in the next one. Along with lots and lots of action.**_

 ** _Kay, bye~~~_**


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